The Wonderful World of Geo Caching!

We've discovered a new love...  Geo caching.  (http://www.geocaching.com/)

Basically, here's the rundown:

You find a cache that sounds interesting to you in an area near you.  You enter the coordinates for the cache into your GPS and follow it to the site.  You then proceed to search for a hidden container, inside of which contains a log book to document that you found the cache, and a variety of small, inexpensive trinkets.  You may choose to take one of the trinkets, but must replace it with one of equal or greater value.  That's it, in a nutshell.

Today, our family went on our first geocaching expedition.  And, I'm afraid we're officially hooked.  It is soooo much fun!!!  :o)

I tried to document our day with pictures...

Here, we are searching for a cache.

We've found our first cache!

B with the cache container (they come in all shapes & sizes.  This one is considered a "micro")

Many of the geo cache sites have historical significance.  This is particularly fun for homeschool history lessons!

Jay has become the professional detective of the family.  He finds all the hidden caches. 

This cache container was filled with all sorts of neat little trinkets.  The kids each got to take something from it.

Now, the rules of geocaching are that if you remove an item from the container, you must also replace it with something of equal or greater value.  The RichFam was more than happy to oblige...

Each time we find cache we fill it with either a silver coin with The Ten Commandments written on it, or a gospel tract in the form of a million dollar bill, most of which have the caricature of someone famous on them.  Might as well spread the gospel while we are having fun, right?  :o)

Grandparents Visit

My mom has been missing her grandbabies lately. So much so, in fact, that she made the last-minute decision to fly out here for the weekend. And, of course, we didn't mind a bit! :o)

The kids waited (a bit impatiently) outside for their rental car to come into view.

They even wrote a message to their grandparents on the driveway...

This one says, "Welcome! Honk if you love us!" :o)

This one says, "Grandma and Grandpa! We love you! Nice to see you again!" :o)

So far, we've spent our time together going shopping, sightseeing, playing spades (until 1:00 in the morning, like we're teenagers or something!), watching movies, etc. It's been a LOT of fun!


But, I think all this running around and excitement is catching up to poor "old" grandma and grandpa... what do you think? :o)

Birthday Boy!

For some odd reason, all of my children's birthdays have fallen on church nights this year. This does not make for a happy mom. I am pressed for time and often don't get to merely enjoy the (abbreviated) celebration. B's birthday was no exception. And this year, of all years, his birthday fell on one of the busiest weeks we've had in a very long time.

First, it was Easter week. In the life of a pastor's family, this is a big deal. Lots of preparation required. Second, we were planning an out-of-town trip, and I was busy packing and preparing for that. Somehow, in the middle of all of that, I had to find time (with 4 kids) to go shopping for the birthday boy... without him seeing anything that I was buying. Then, to top it all off, B ended up getting strep throat!!! So, while nursing him back to health (and keeping everything sanitized so the other kids didn't get it), I had to also find the time to bake and decorate the special birthday cake he requested.

In light of all of this, I was not able to decorate an elaborate cake for him this year. When I asked him what he wanted a few months ago, he told me he wanted a hockey cake. Why he wanted a hockey cake, I will never know. He has never even seen a hockey game! He knows nothing about hockey! And, for that matter, neither do I. Nevertheless, I made him a hockey cake. But, due to our crazy schedule for the week, I had no choice but to make it a very simple one. He didn't mind... it still tasted delish!!! :o)

The Cake.
Since I am so unfamiliar with hockey, I had to go online to find out what a hockey rink even looked like! I did the best I could to make it look the same. This is how it turned out...


I never thought to get hockey goals for the cake, so at the last minute, I had to try to get creative and make some myself. It's amazing what you can create with some hot glue and a few Q-Tips... :o)



The decorations...

Because B had strep throat and was very contagious, we were unable to have any friends over to help celebrate (although one dear soul risked her health and defied our warnings to wish B a Happy Birthday and have pizza and cake with us).

Overall, though, B said it was the best birthday he's ever had.

Poor guy... if a friend-less, strep throat-infected birthday is the best one he's ever had... he must have really hated his other birthdays! Ha ha. :o)

We love you, B!!! :o)